Tushar Deshpande's debut Thursday of good fortune and wickets

It was around 10:35 PM on Wednesday (October 5), when the news broke out that Shardul Thakur was called in to replace Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the Indian Test side. The pacer, who was two days short of turning 25, was till then preparing to take on Tamil Nadu in Mumbai's opening encounter of the Ranji Trophy season.

In many ways, it wasn't the most exciting call-up for Thakur, not given the way his season has panned out. After being selected in Kings XI Punjab's side, he didn't get to play a single match in the 2016 Indian Premier League. He was then selected for the four-match Test series in West Indies, but got to play only a solitary tour game. Even his selection in the Indian team for the Indore Test is unlikely to result in anything but a role in the reserves. Wouldn't he have instead preferred to play for Mumbai than carry bottles for Team India? That bit remains unknown. But for sure, Mumbai's plans would've been disturbed in the knowledge of Thakur's unavailability at the 11th hour.

For all of Mumbai's misery and in many ways Thakur's conundrum, there was one man celebrating - Tushar Deshpande. The 21-year-old seamer was the only medium pacer in the Mumbai reserves, with the other two being left-arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar and wicketkeeper-batsman Sufiyan Sheikh. On a pitch with an evident layer of grass, the defending champions were left without an option, but to go with Deshpande.

Suddenly, for Deshpande, one late night message made all his long train rides from Kalyan (home) to Dadar (training ground) seem worth the while. The wait of becoming part of the grand Mumbai legacy was over, and at the toss on Thursday morning of a fresh Ranji season, his name was penned down on the team sheet which exchanged hands of the captains.

"I was prepared that whenever I get a chance, I will do well. I was a part of the Ranji Trophy side last year for a couple of games. I didn't get a chance, but I was prepared for it," the 21-year old said at the end of first day's play.

After dismissing the Tamil Nadu openers early, the new ball pair of Dhawal Kulkarni and Balwinder Sandhu failed to separate the third wicket duo of Dinesh Karthik and Baba Aparajith in conditions that aided fast bowling. A double change was made from both ends with Abhishek Nayar and Deshpande being brought into the attack to allow some rest to the front-line pacers.

With Tamil Nadu reaching 41, Karthik, the team's most experienced batsmen, fell for the bait of going for a drive. The ball bounced steeply after pitching on a good length to get an outside edge through to the wicketkeeper. The team went through a routine celebration. Even Deshpande, who had bagged his maiden wicket with Karthik's scalp, didn't show much emotion. The reaction was almost as if he had been a seasoned campaigner, with wickets being just the next easiest thing coming to him after air.

"I was not excited. I was not thinking about Dinesh Karthik. I was just focussing on bowling good line and length, and was getting help from the seniors," he explained for his bland reaction.

Another one of the by-products of the Shivaji Park Gymkhana, where Padmakar Shivalkar and Pravin Amre have trained several top club players of the city, he comes from the school of simple thinking.

It became quite apparent with the line and length he was operating on - pitched on a good length on off and fourth stump line. Given the aid for seam and bounce, a young bowler would've been expected to get carried away and try too many things on a kind of surface that is hard to find in the country. Nonetheless, he kept his head on the shoulders and stuck to a simple plan. He constantly urged the batsmen to lean forward and play the drive. The steep bounce helped him cause the extra bit of trouble.

"Abhishek Nayar and Dhawal Kulkarni, our senior players, told us in the team meeting that it is a green surface and we need to ensure that we don't get carried away."

The plan worked as he bowled a superb spell to trouble Tamil Nadu's vice captain Baba Aparajith. He got three more wickets - J Kousik (leg before), Aswin Christ and K Vignesh (caught behind) - in the day, finishing with figures of 4 for 25 in his debut innings. He could've got five when he had trapped Baba Indrajith - the unbeaten batsman - leg before for six. However, after the on-field umpire declared the batsman out, the third umpire called it a no ball. Nonetheless, Deshpande didn't seem too bothered on missing the feat.

"There's no point realising that. No ifs and buts. I'll try to work on my weakness and ensure that it doesn't happen again."

Had it not been for Thakur's call-up to the national side, Deshpande perhaps wouldn't have made his debut today. He did, and he returned with a far better show than he would've been expected to. But will he continue to hold on to his position in the side once Thakur returns? There were doubts that, irrespective of his performance in the match, it would've taken quite something for him to play in the coming matches. However, luck was shining bright on him on Thursday.

As the day came to an end, another good news awaited him. Dhawal Kulkarni was selected in India's ODI squad for the first matches against New Zealand. This means, despite Thakur''s return to the side, the spot of third seamer remains vacant. For all his lack of display of emotions, Deshpande will be quite comforted in the knowledge that he has got a longer period to prove himself and cement his place in the team.